


Coincidence

by buhnebeest



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 13:29:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6425839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buhnebeest/pseuds/buhnebeest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Let me get that for you, ma’am.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coincidence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Burning_Nightingale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burning_Nightingale/gifts).



“Let me get that for you, ma’am.” 

Ann groaned in relief when the heavy box in her arms was smoothly lifted away, shaking out her aching hands. Starting the move by herself had been a mistake; her father’s research equipment had been plentiful to the point of excessive, and now she had to cart all of it off to the Crucible project. 

“Thank you, sir, I was just— oh!” Ann’s heart skipped a beat when she recognized him. “Lieutenant Vega!”

“Just James is fine, Dr. Bryson,” he said, mouth curving. “Where do you want it, ma’am?”

 _Wherever you want to put it_ , she thought stupidly, and then blushed, mentally kicking herself. Very inappropriate, and probably also what a guy like this heard all the time. He was just being nice – actually, being nice was what he’d been doing since she’d met him – and here she was objectifying him like a great big pervert. 

“Right over there,” she said quickly, gesturing to the boxes already standing on the shuttle platform. It was still a woefully small pile; back in the lab, there were still at least two dozen boxes to go. 

“Thank you so much,” Ann said again, fiddling with the hem of her shirt while James carried the box like it weighed nothing. To him, with big muscles like that, it probably didn’t. “You’re a lifesaver.” 

“No problem, ma’am.” James straightened, looking around with a disapproving frown on his face. “What are you doing out here all by yourself? Didn’t the Alliance offer you a ride?”

“Yes, but… resources are low and it would take at least another week, so…” Ann trailed off, looking away. She’d been staying at a hotel for the past week, but she’d been forced to come back here to sift through all her father’s things, and it… hadn’t been easy. “I just… want to get out of here, you know?”

James’ face softened with understanding. 

“How about I help you out, huh?” he offered gently, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I get these boxes out for you, I call my pilot buddy and he flies all of it to the docking bay. It’ll take two hours, tops.” 

“I couldn’t possibly ask you to—”

“That’s why I offered,” he said easily. “Believe me, a guy could do a lot worse on libo than help out a pretty lady in a bind.” 

Ann smiled, cheeks warming. “Well. All right, then.” 

James winked and went into the house without another word. Ann watched him casually pick up two boxes at once, and wondered shyly what kind of business a Marine on his day off could have in the Science District suburbs. Butterflies squirmed in her belly. 

Maybe he wasn’t ‘just being nice’, after all.


End file.
